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Denver Post Employees Rebel Against Hedge Fund Owner

An act of defiance by Denver Post employees has thrust a powerful hedge fund's destruction of local news coverage to the front pages of publications across the country.

Editorial staff of Colorado's biggest newspaper took the extraordinary step of blasting Alden Global Capital, owner of the Denver Post and 200 other newspapers, in the paper early this week.

"News matters," the headline blared. "Colo. should demand the newspaper it deserves." The editorial denounced "heartbreaking instructions" to cut already severely diminished staff with 30 more layoffs. Accompanied by multiple signed columns, the feeling of a rebellion was unmistakable.

After two years of relentless reporting by Julie Reynolds and others on the Digital First Media workers website, the story of Alden's disastrous effect on the newspapers it owns or controls is finally breaking through.

"Media experts locally and nationally question why our future looks so bleak, as many newspapers still enjoy double-digit profits and our management reported solid profits as recently as last year," the editorial board wrote. "Denver deserves a newspaper owner who supports its newsroom. If Alden isn't willing to do good journalism here, it should sell The Post to owners who will."